


Journey to You

by Spoilmeglam



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-20 10:15:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8245475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoilmeglam/pseuds/Spoilmeglam
Summary: 19 year old, Clarke Griffin decides to forego college and volunteer aboard Mercy Ships, a hospital ship that provides medical help to the poor and homeless in Africa. Clarke and her best friend Raven Reyes make new life long friends while on a life changing journey of volunteering, finding themselves, and possibly finding love in the process. In Africa there is only 1 physician for every 16,000 people and only 1 surgeon for every two million.





	1. Leaving

Journey To You

"Clarke honey, are you sure your not forgetting anything? You made sure you have enough underwear and socks? What about your boots!?" 19 year old, Clarke Griffin, looked over towards her mother, Abby, who was standing by the bed straightening the covers. Clarke, Abby and Clarke's father Jake, had all traveled to London a week ago so they could spend time bonding as a family before Clarke was to depart from London to go on Mercy Ships, a hospital ship that sends help and supplies to the sick in Africa.

"Yes mom, I've gone over the list a few thousand times. My mentor sent me a very detailed list that another volunteer she knows put together. It even includes a solar powered nightlight incase you might be scared of the dark." Clarke explained. Abby looked relieved but still looked sad. 

"I'm sorry baby," she replied moving towards her daughter. "It's not everyday that your only child decides to forego college for a year, give up her summer and fall to travel to Africa on a hospital ship." Abby pulled clarke in for a hug. "Promise me you'll write to us. Your father and I are going to miss you so so much honey." Clarke nodded into her mothers chest. "Okay! Good! So let's go through your bags one more time!" Abby exclaimed wiping away tears.

"mom! It's fine!" Clarke groaned as Abby zipped open the first bag. 

 

 

\---

Clarke jumped out of the car they pulled into a parking spot. She could see the ship on the way in and it was all she could do to hide how excited she was to be leaving. "Raven should be here already! I'm going to go find her." Abby was about to protest when her husband and Clarke's father, Jake, grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a kiss. 

"Help me grab the bags babe?" He said trying to distract his wife. Abby nodded after a few seconds and exited the car. 

They made their way to the luggage area where they found Clarke talking excitedly to her best friend Raven. "Hey kiddo, a little help here for your old man??" Clarke turned and saw her father carrying all of her bags except her small duffle. 

"If you let me take more than one bag, Jake, you wouldn't be having any issues." Abby said while shaking her head, smiling. 

"Yo, Griffsters!! Ready to have the house all to yourselves for a few months!?" Raven asked with a smirk. "I know how much you guys are going to miss us!"

"Clarke, yes. You, not so much..." Jake said laughing as he watched Ravens mouth drop open. "I'm kidding! Course we are going to miss you both! You know your my second daughter Ray." Abby nodded in agreement with tears forming in her eyes. 

They pulled clarke and Raven in for a group hug when the speaker over head started to welcome everyone. 

"Hello everyone I'm Callie and I'd like to Welcome all the volunteers and their families here today! We are so happy that you guys have decided to take the plunge and embark on this adventure with us. As you know we will be leaving the dock at 5:30pm sharp. So please make sure all luggage is at the luggage area by the stern of the ship and you have said your goodbyes to your families. There will be a get together on board at 7:00pm with food and drinks for everyone to become acquainted. If anyone has questions feel free to ask! Thank you and welcome again!!"

"Oh dear, I should go ask her about communicating with family.... I want to know how long ill have to wait before I hear from you..." Abby kissed Clarke's head and excused herself while the other three waited in line.

Once they were first in line they quickly handed over their bags to the luggage guys and followed Jake over towards the boat entrance waiting for Abby to return. They met up with a few older volunteers and chatted for a little until Abby found them. "Looks like it'll be a while before you can send out a letter. But you better write me more than once during that time Missy! They said you can hop online while on the boat for a few minutes here and there so you can send an email as well. I want to know everything you two are up to! You can send any letters you write once you get to Kenya. Please promise me that and that you'll be safe!" 

Clarke nodded, "yes mom. I'll make sure to send those out immediately. As you know we will be traveling from Kenya to Lwero in Uganda... I'll be helping as an aid, Raven will be helping build a dorm for an orphanage close by the hospital I'll be working at. We will be fine. I promise you." 

"Yeahhhh! We'll be good mama Griff! I'll protect her as always," Raven interrupted and then quickly changed the subject. "they are letting people on now, I say we all head up and take a tour of our new living quarters for the next month while we sail around the cape of hope! I cannot wait!!!" Jake laughed at Raven and grabbed the small brunette into a side hug and started heading into the ship. Clarke grabbed Abby's hand, giving it a quick squeeze before pulling her to follow. 

Once the four of them were able to find their rooms, Clarke and Raven having to bunk separately, they settled in and decided to get a feel for the rest of the ship. They explored the cafeteria and a found a common room filled with books and games to keep people busy. "Well Griffsters, I'm going to say my goodbyes here. I'm heading back to my room in hopes I run into my roommate, maybe even meet a few other volunteers around our age.." Abby and Jake said their goodbyes and each of them gave Raven a hug and a kiss goodbye. "Be safe y'all!" She yelled and walked off towards her room. 

Clarke checked her watch, the watch her father had given her before they left for London, the watch that she had always begged him for ever since she was little. "Well I should say goodbye too, before I change my mind and leave with you guys." 

" oh you can do that! We'll be traveling around Europe for two weeks, you can join us!" Abby said trying to convince clarke. Jake shook his head, smiling, and told her she wasn't invited, clarke choked a laugh. 

"No mom, this is supposed to be the honeymoon you two never had. Now go and have fun! Seriously, you guys deserve it." Clarke said with tears in her eyes. She combed her fingers through her blonde hair trying to distract herself so the tears wouldn't fall. She knew if she started crying in front of her mom it would be over for her, Abby would rush clarke off the boat and back to the hotel. It took another 10 minutes for them to finally kiss and hug goodbye before clarke was hanging off the deck looking down at her parents on the dock below. She stayed there watching them until the boat started sailing and they were out of sight. 

She felt homesick already and it had only been 15 minutes since she last saw her parents. Clarke plopped herself down on a bench in the front of the boat and tears started to fall. She sat there silently crying before her heard a soft voice. 

"It'll get easier, it usually takes people a few days to overcome their homesickness, but it'll happen." Clarke looked over to see a brunette girl with a long sleeved white shirt, the sleeves rolled to her elbows, and a pair of Jean shorts that reached to her mid thigh. She walked over and sat down next to clarke offering her a tissue, which clarke accepted and wiped her tears. Clarke smiled softly and looked over at the girl, green eyes meeting her crystal blue eyes. Her eyes were so green that it reminded clarke of the forest back at home, the forest she and Raven spent their childhood playing in. The girl smirked at her and continued talking. "This is my fourth trip with mercy ships, but my first on this boat. I take it that this is your first, right?" 

Clarke nodded and sniffled a little. "Yeah it is. I've done some work with the peace corps back home but nothing like this. I'm pretty excited and I wish we could start right away, I mean I know it doesn't look like I'm excited right now, but I am." 

The brunette laughed a little and shook her head. "That's how I felt my first time, excited, I mean, but once you're there, it hits you, it's nothing like what you've seen in the peace corps, there's people everywhere, hundreds of them who have traveled for days but to come get help. Men, women, children, all dying of hunger, thirst, whooping cough, the flu.. things that we just shrug at and go buy or go get medication or vaccines for. They don't have that." 

"That's why I want to do this... it breaks my heart that so many people die because of these things, where we just think of them as nothing." Clarke could see the girl nod her head and she watched her out of the corner of her eye looking out to the water, watching as land slipped further and further away. "What's... what's your name?" Clarke asked the brunette.

"Lexa Woods."

Clarke smiled, "I'm Clarke Griffin," she said as they looked back at the water and watched in silence. 

 

\---

Clarke walked into the common room by herself, having gone back to her room to grab a sweatshirt before she went to the get together. She immediately spotted Raven, who was shoving food in her mouth, on the other side of the room. Clarke walked over to her and grabbed a finger sandwich, popping it into her mouth. "Oh! Clarke, Have you met Octavia, your roomie yet?" Raven said with a mouth full, gesturing over to her right side where another brunette was standing, chuckling at Raven. 

"Nice to finally meet you, clarke." Octavia said holding out her hand to clarke who gladly shook it as she smiled at the brunette. Octavia has been Clarke's mentor since she first decided to volunteer and they've been in touch almost everyday. She was happy to be bunked with someone who she felt familiar with. 

"Hey it's nice to put a face to the name! And seriously, thank you so much for all your help, I'm sure i was getting pretty annoying with all my questions. It amazed me how many trips you've made, but I met someone earlier who's done just about the same amount of trips as you. I guess I didn't realize that people spend a lot of their time doing this." Clarke paused for a second and sipped her drink. She sighed and continued, "I guess I just wish I heard about it earlier and tried to do this before now as well. I mean I'm scared, but I'm more excited to be able to help." 

Octavia opened her mouth to reply but snapped it shut when a voice behind clarke started talking. "Well it really is never too early or too late to start this journey, clarke." The voice said, the R in clarke being drawn out. Clarke and Raven turned to the voice. It was Lexa. 

"Oh good you two have met!!" Octavia exclaimed. "I met Lexa on my first mission, she had already been on one before, so she helped me adjust to everything. She's a life saver, she's actually the one who put together that list I sent you of everything you would need."

"Well thank you, it was very.. detailed." Clarke said to Lexa smiling, she looked to Octavia and Raven. "Lexa and I met up on deck after we started to take off. She helped me out.. I was a little emotional." 

"Sounds like Lexa!" Octavia said shrugging, "oh and she's also Ravens roomie, so I feel like we'll be spending a lot of time together." Clarke couldn't help but look over at Lexa, who was now standing between Octavia and herself. She was hoping to see if Lexa had some kind of reaction to that statement, but instead she seemed to be more interested in her small plate of food, moving around a few things that she tried but obviously didn't really like. Raven must have noticed as well because she reached over and grabbed the crackers and cheese off Lexa's plate. 

"Cant waste food, roomie." She said as she shoved the cheese in her mouth. Clarke's mouth hung open in shock as Octavia started to laugh. Clarke couldn't believe Raven. She just met this girl not even 10 minutes before and she was already stealing food off her plate, even if it was unwanted. 

"Ray! Oh my goodness you can't be doing that to people you hardly know!" Clarke turned to Lexa, "I'm so sorry, she's like a vacuum cleaner, she'll literally eat anything." Lexa smiled at clarke and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's fine clarke, i'd rather not eat it so I'm glad someone will." Clarke kept looking at Lexa for a few extra seconds after she stopped talking. She couldn't tell if the girl was just being shy as she was a little more talkative up on deck earlier, but for some reason, she intrigued the blonde. Clarke stood there in the small foursome for the next hour and a half talking with the two girls, getting to know them and others who joined in on the conversation. When it neared 9pm they all decided to head to their bunks and get ready for bed.

Clarke had just come out of their attached bathroom when she noticed Octavia staring at her. She quickly turned away from the girl and tried to hide her face. She knew Octavia could probably tell that she'd been crying. "It gets easier you know." Clarke heard from the other bed. "The Homesickness I mean." 

"Yeah, that's what Lexa said to me earlier..." Clarke climbed into bed and scooted down to get comfortable. Octavia walked over and shut off the light running across the room to her bed, only being able to see a little due to the new waxing moon in the sky. "Night"

"Night, clarke." 

 

 

\----

Clarke was woken up by the sound of seagulls flying around in the sky. She looked over to the other side of the room and saw Octavia still sleeping so she checked her watch. 5:35am. She knew they all had to be up at 6:30 for breakfast before their first morning meeting so they could get their assigned chores. Clarke threw the covers off her body and quietly tip toed to the bathroom. She felt groggy and her head was killing her because she cried silently in bed for almost two hours after she finally heard Octavia's breathing level out and she was certain the girl was asleep. 

Clarke turned on the shower and waited a minute for the water to turn hot, which it never did. "I guess I should feel lucky even being able to have a luke warm shower..." she mumbled to herself. 

\---

Once clarke was done with her shower she made her way back to her bed finding that Octavia was awake reading. "I love the first morning on the ship... it's so quiet and carefree.." octavia said as she stretched.

"Carefree?" Clarke asked as Octavia laughed. 

"Yeah," she sighed softly. "I mean you don't have to worry about chores and seriously all the new people aren't really comfortable yet so they are quiet," clarke listened to Octavia chuckle again as she made her bed. She turned and sat down. "Trust me, people will be talking in the hallways and making tons of noise way earlier than this. Take advantage of it." Clarke smiled sat quietly for a second before she realized she was probably acting like them.  
"Well I-" clarke tried to say before she heard a familiar voice in the hallway. "Well Raven is never uncomfortable, obviously..." there was a loud knock on their door and Raven busted through, not waiting for an answer.  
"Good morning you amazing people!!!" She yelled as she belly flopped onto Clarke's bed.

"Ray, you can't just barge in here, what if it was just Octavia and she was getting changed or something?" Ravens eyes widened at Clarke's comment. 

"Well now that's something I wouldn't mind seeing!" She replied, receiving a hit her on the back from Clarke. "Sorry, sorry! But it's the truth."

Clarke looked over towards Octavia who was blushing before she noticed Lexa in the door that Raven left open. She quickly spoke once clarke had noticed her. "Your friend is a bit..."

"Crazy? Annoying?" Clarke interrupted with a smirk on her face. Her eyes never leaving Lexa even after Raven huffed out her annoyance.

"Eccentric." Lexa explained, her eyes focused on clarke, as Octavia started to laugh. 

"Breakfast, anyone?" 

 

 

 

\---a week later---

__

_Dear mom and dad,  
We've been out for a week now and it's amazing. If the dark blue ocean and the bright blue sky were the only things I got to see forever, I'd be a happy woman. And I cannot believe I am about to say this but I miss the seagulls. They followed the boat for about two days before flying away. I thought they were annoying at first, but I notice that they were calming, now that are gone. There's nothing out here but the sound of water and the boat. I cannot wait to get to Africa!_

_Mom- just so you know, regular emails will be tough. The captain restricts the amount of time any one person is on the internet, but I'll try my hardest to email as much as possible. I am also writing two short letters and I'll work on a longer one for you both soon. Raven really misses you both as well, even if she won't not admit it. They have been keeping us very busy, so by the time night falls we are both in our rooms passed out._

_Oh! My roommate is actually the girl who helped me with this whole process, Octavia! I'm so excited that it's her, she made me feel comfortable a lot faster. Raven is rooming with a girl named Lexa. I met her on our first day on the boat and we are both working in the kitchen together. She's really nice but mysterious and very intriguing, I cannot wait to learn more about her. And yes I did say I was given kitchen duty for my chore work. Crazy huh? Me, clarke burn-the-house-down-cooking-toast Griffin is in the kitchen..? But it's true! I've learned to whip up some decent scrambled eggs for 300 in no time!_

_Most evenings after all the chore work is done, everyone sits around, plays music, and talks. I've met tons of people from all over the world and I've learned so much about them, their families, and their cultures. Raven, Octavia, Lexa, and I have been spending a lot of time together, kind of like our own little group and i truly feel like I'm the happiest I've ever been! I love this experience already; and to think that the real work hasn't even started! Anyways, I really have to go I have people breathing down my neck for their internet time. I love you guys so so much and I hope you two are enjoying Europe!_  
Love Clarke  
(And Raven!)  



	2. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive me for any mistakes, I haven't proof read it completely. Once I have time I'll do so!

 

They've been out to sea for two weeks so far. Every Tuesday and Thursday Clarke, Lexa and few other familiar volunteers met in the ships conference room with one of the five doctors on the ship. There was about 13 people that were assigned to the same mission team as Clarke and Lexa. Dr. Marie Salem was a surgeon from Los Angeles, who wore a thick pair of glasses and had long and curly auburn hair. She was a longtime volunteer, a veteran of sorts. She explained to the group during the first week that she had been on 3 trips aboard the Africa Mercy and 8 others aboard The Anastasis, which ended up being docked permanently back in 2007.

During the first week Dr. Salem explained a little about Uganda for the group, telling them that English is the "official" language of Uganda due to it being influenced by the British. But since a lot of people mostly speak Lugandan or Swahili she taught the group how to respond to a few phrases they might hear a lot. They were told that they should always open with 'Habari' which means 'good news' and usually they should respond with 'Mzuri' which meant 'good' if they were greeted like that.

This week the group was taking about safety. "Please always always always double glove just to be safe! You never know if and when you'll come in contact with a patients bodily fluids. I know everyone here is up to date on their shots, but there is no shot for HIV, so please always be extra careful!" Clarke remember reading up on the HIV epidemic in Africa. 1 out of 3 Africans were tests positive for the HIV virus.

Clarke sat there and thought back to the numerous times she had to go to her doctors for shots after shots before leaving for the trip. Everyone on the ship also had to take medications daily for typhoid and malaria and she made sure to get a shot that helped boost her immune system before she left, for extra precautions.

The doctor handed out a few papers for everyone to go over. As clarke handed Lexa her paper their hands brushed and clarke could feel her heart flutter. _'What the hell was that?'_ she thought. She peeked out of the corner of her eye to look at Lexa and swore she could see a slight pink to her cheeks. _'did she feel it too?'_

An hour later the group start to disperse but they were told everyone had to go for a emergency meeting in the common room. "Care to walk with me clarke?" Lexa asked her, clarke quickly nodded and they headed towards to common room.

\---

Once they got there Clarke spotted Raven standing with Octavia, she figured they came together since they were both assigned to the same mission group as well. Lexa and clarke walked over to them and they began to talk some while waiting for the meeting to start.

"Hey did you guys see the ring around the moon last night?" Clarke asked the three girls. Octavia nodded.

"It's ice crystals." Lexa responded quickly. "Up in the atmosphere."

"But it's not cold...." Raven chimed in. Lexa nodded,

"Yeah but it's winter now, we are below the equator." Clarke, Octavia, and Raven all nodded realizing that Lexa was in fact correct.

"Well did any one see the red sky this morning? It was beautiful." Raven asked. "What's that saying? Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in the morning, sailors take warning?"

"I did read a bulletin about a storm that is coming in, maybe that's what this meeting is about.." Octavia added in. Clarke nodded and nonchalantly stood a little closer to Lexa, who clarke swore leaned closer to her as well.

"Hello hello everyone!" The captain said over the microphone in the front of the room. Clarke looked at him and smiled, he reminded her of her grandfather. "As some of you have heard there is a storm heading in, we expect to meet up with it late tomorrow morning, but it could be sooner. So please everyone, refer to your emergency booklets and settle in for a rough storm ahead. Please stay safe and if it gets bad enough we will have everyone meet here in the common room as it's one of the safest rooms on the ship. Any questions don't be afraid to ask! Thank you all and stay safe."

 

\---

Clarke awoke with an uneasy feeling in her stomach, she tried sitting up in bed but was thrown against the wall by the rocking of the boat. "O!! What's going on!?" Clarke tried to steady herself as she heard a yelp across the room coming from Octavia's bed.

"It's the storm, we must've hit it earlier than they thought."

"Oh my gosh I'm going to throw up," clarke said as she tried to get up out of bed but as her feet hit the ground the boat heaved causing a shooting pain to run up her legs from the impact.

"No no! Breathe clarke breathe!" Octavia told her. "We need to get up top to the common room, it's safer and it won't be as rocky." Clarke nodded and grabbed her sweatshirt and sweatpants from the bottom of her bed and pulled them on. Octavia grabbed Clarke's arm and lead her out of their room and into the hallway which was dimly lit due to the emergency lights being the only thing lit. They were met with a group of other volunteers who were making their way up top, all holding on to the side railing for dear life. The boat heaved and yawed again throwing clarke off balance again, but she quickly felt a hand reach out to steady her. Clarke looked back and found Lexa behind her, "your fine clarke" she stared at the blonde. "Raven is here as well."

The smell of vomit filled the air and clarke started to gag. "I'm scared Lexa..." clarke whispered as she leaned into her when the ship rocked again. Lexa breathed into Clarke's neck deeply and whispered, "I'll keep you safe," into her ear. Clarke's cheeks warmed at the whisper and her heart fluttered again. Lexa held tightly onto her arm as the quickly made their way through tight hallways and up stairs towards the common room.

Once they all finally got to the common they quickly found a spot in a corner and sat down. Clarke dramatically flopped down so she was laying. She looked around the room, people were holding flashlights and there was a few battery powered lanterns around, lighting the room up enough for everyone to see.

"I'm going to die.." clarke said as she felt Lexa's hands pick up her head and quickly guided it onto her lap. Clarke hummed at the feeling, forgetting her churning stomach for a few seconds. She was quickly reminded when the ship rolled and rocked when another wave hit.

"No one has ever died from seasickness, clarke." Lexa replied, running her long slender fingers through Clarke's hair.

"How long is this going to last?" Clarke asked her, looking up into gorgeous green eyes.

"What the feeling in your stomach or the storm?" Lexa chuckled.

"My stomach. What if I... ugh," clarke held her stomach when the boat rocked once again. "What if I get sick..?"

Lexa frowned, "that's why we have buckets clarke, it's fine if you do."

"How are you two not sick right now!?" Raven asked moaning as she was in a similar position and was sitting between Octavia's legs, her back pressed into Octavia's front and Octavia holding onto her tightly.

"We've been through this before, we have iron stomachs by now. Trust me I remember my first time going through a storm, it wasn't all that pretty." Octavia told them, Lexa nodding in agreement.

"Same... " she said as she closed her eyes and hummed, her fingers still in Clarke's hair, rubbing her head before running down the blonde length. Clarke tried to focus on the feeling instead of the lurching of the boat and cries from children across the room.

One volunteer named Jarrod grabbed a guitar and started to play, urging a few to sing along with him. The singing was comforting to people and made waiting out the storm a little bit easier.

It felt like forever to clarke before the waves started to die down and they no longer crashed into the boat. The wind was no longer howling outside and they rain lessened a bit. Exhaustion finally overtook her body and she was finally able to drift into sleep.

A doctor walked around the room with blankets, when he stopped over in their corner he found a sleeping clarke and Lexa so he covered up Clarke's body, and laid another blanket on the lower half of Lexa as Clarke's head was still on her lap.

A shiver shook from Lexa's body causing clarke to wake up, thinking it was another wave. "Sorry," Lexa said, "its a bit cold." Clarke smiled at her before she sat up and moved to snuggle into Lexa's side, pulling up Lexa's blanket over them first and then covering them with her own blanket. She hummed into Lexa's neck, a shiver running through Lexa's body once again.

"Still cold?" Clarke asked her.

"Not a bit, thank you." Lexa said as she snuggled in further, sliding down so they were both laying on the floor and fell to sleep.

 

\---

 

Clarke woke up to the sound of shushed voices and children playing. She peeked through a heavy eyelid and was greeted with sunshine shining through the closest window. She grunted and buried her face into Lexa's warm neck.

"Your nose is cold clarke." Lexa said in a cracked voice. She opened her eyes and was greeted with sun.

"Oops, sorry Lexa." Clarke apologized, pulling her body away from Lexa's, all of a sudden feeling uncomfortable. She was about to say something when she heard a moan from next to her.

"Two more minutes mom!" Raven said as the sun was now beaming down on her face. Clarke watched as Octavia shoved her gently and Raven shot up off the floor. Clarke and Lexa giggled and received a death glare from Raven.

Clarke stood up and stretched. She made her way out the door and onto the deck. She looked around, a few deck chairs were missing and there was seaweed hanging off the railings, salt fogged the windows on the boat.

The group of volunteers and doctors spend the next two days cleaning up after the storm. In the second day Clarke was in the kitchen packing boxes of canned and boxed food for when they hit land and traveled to Uganda. She knew they had to catch a plane in Kenya to the Uganda airport and then take a long car ride in order to get where they were going be be staying for the next four month. Clarke was thinking about what it'll be like there when her thoughts were interrupted.

"Hey need a hand?" Clarke turned and found Lexa standing in the doorway. She smiled at clarke and gestured to the boxes.

"Sure!" Clarke smiled back at the brunette. Lexa walked over, put together a new box and started to fill it up.

"I'm meeting Raven and Octavia up top by the basketball court for a game... want to join? Maybe play a game of two on two?" Lexa asked.

"Sure, but can't promise I'm the best at basketball." Lexa laughed at Clarke.

"I'm pretty good so you can be on my team." Clarke hummed her response and continued to fill up the rest of the boxes.

After the two girls were done they made their way up to the court. "Hey my two sexy ladies! Ready to get your ass headed to you in basketball Lexi?!" Raven shouted towards them.

"Actually clarke and I will be handing you and O your asses and its Lexa, only my little brother gets to call me Lexi."

"Let's get this game started, Leeexxiiiii," Raven teased. Clarke shook her head and laughed,

"Shut up ray and lets play. First team to 10 wins." Clarke said bouncing the ball.

 

\---

30 minutes and 10 points later clarke was celebrating and taunting Raven who was sulking. Lexa and Octavia laughed at the two girls shaking their heads. Lexa walked over to the railing and looked out to the water. "Look! Land! Oh my goodness is that Kenya!?" Clarke squealed as she ran over and stood next to Lexa who nodded her answer. "That means we are almost there!"

"Almost, we probably have another two days until we get there, Clarke."

"Well i can't wait, I am starting to miss solid land," clarke stated making Lexa chuckle. The two stood there quietly for a few minutes. "So, you have a little brother?"

Lexa nodded. "He's in boarding school in Connecticut unfortunately, I tried to get him to come with me this time, but my parents wouldn't allow him to leave school."

"Wait boarding school in the summer?" Clarke asked.

"Yeah they kept me at school all year as well, but I was able to sneak out a few summers and volunteer. They aren't very hands on parents." Clarke listened but didn't want to ask anymore questions because she could feel Lexa becoming tense on the topic.

"I wish my parents could've been a little less hands on. I mean my mother seriously wanted to climb in my suitcase and stay with me on the boat." Clarke said getting a small chuckle from Lexa.

"Don't ever wish for less hands on parents clarke. Your lucky your mom didn't want to leave you. My parents think I'm wasting my potential by volunteering instead of being at Harvard right now."

"Wait you got accepted to Harvard!?" Clarke practically squealed.

Lexa nodded her head, "yeah for pre-law. I'm going in the spring."

"Me too! I mean I'm going to Harvard, but for pre-med and Raven is heading to Princeton for their engineering department."

The girls stood there for a while before Lexa decided to excuse herself as it was getting late. "I'll see you later, Clarke."

"Yeah, oh and Lexa?" Lexa turned around and faced clarke, "thank you for helping me out the other night, during the storm.."

"Anytime." She said smiling as she walked away leaving clarke to stare out at the land in front of them.


	3. The Clinic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter here, I didn't want to add anything after what happens at the end... it needed to end there. I'll start a new day in the next chapter. Enjoy.

They had been in Kenya for two days, doing nothing but helping to unload supplies and food from the ship and load them into two busses three Jeeps and two vans. Clarke had thought about everything she would come up against except one thing. The dust. It was everywhere, in her hair, up her nose, in her mouth and probably even caked into her pores.Clarke was now regretting signing up to travel by land so they could stop for four days at a near by village before heading out to the airport to meet the others, but at least Lexa was with her. Octavia and Raven chose to skip it and wait for their flight at the Nairobi airport to Uganda in a few days.

On the third day in Kenya they headed out through the city of Nairobi and towards the world health organization facility they were going to be working at. Once they left the city behind they hit dirt roads that were rutted and rocky, causing her to feel like she was on the ship during the storm again.

"How are you doing?" Lexa asked leaning in towards the blonde.

"I guess I'm fine. I can't wait for this ride to be over. Hey I thought it was winter here, how come I'm dying of heat?" Clarke questioned and quickly being graced with a smile from Lexa.

"It is. It's colder at night, Clarke." Lexa grabbed Clarke's hand and held it. "It's cool here now, it's usually over a hundred degrees in the summer."

"Well I'm glad I'm not here during their summer then," clarke smirked and squeezed Lexa's hand before staring out the window.

 

 

 

  
\---

  
As they drove towards the World Health Organizations compound clarke could see a mass of people surge towards their bus, all she could see was a ocean of dark faces, men, woman, and children. Some woman were holding out their children begging them to take their children and help them.

Clarke grabbed onto Lexa's hand even harder, "I've never seen anything like this.."

"Looks like half the country has shown up." Lexa observed.

"how will we help them all?" Clarke asked with a worried face.

"We have four days to figure that out Clarke."

The bus parked and they watched as soldiers made room for the group of volunteers to get off the bus. Once they were in the facility they watched as the soldiers started to unload the buses and vans.

"As you can see we have a lot of work ahead of us." Dr. Salem told the group. "The schedule for the OR is already set for today, but we will need a group of you to help organize a list for tomorrow, but make sure you tell everyone that they can not eat for at least 8 hours before surgery. We have interpreters available. There is a mess hall to the left of the building. We have a refrigerator available for vaccines and medicines, but do not store anything else in them. Now please see one of the nurses for your assignments. Thank you everyone!"

"Let's go clarke, we need to set up our tents now, trust me you'll want to pass out afterwards." Clarke nodded and followed Lexa towards the tent area. "Over there are the toilets and to the left of that is the showers. The rain water collects in tanks behind them and the sun heats it during the day. It's not too horrible to bathe in." Lexa chuckled.

The two girls pulled their bags and tents out of the pile the soldiers made on the ground and began setting up their tents side by side.

Once their things were safely in their tents they both walked over towards the main building. Lexa was sent off towards the operating rooms while clarke was sent over to a nurse who instructed her to screen new patients and get a history. "This is for people with minor issues, such as diarrhea, scabies, bronchitis, things like that. We give them shots and medications to help them." The nurse, Harper, told her. "You need to make sure they know they cannot take all the medication at once, they have to use it as proscribed. Make sure they are aware that not doing so could result in a lot of people issues." Clarke nodded and smiled softly at Harper. "If you need anything let me know."

Clarke spent the next couple of hours getting people's names and filling out paperwork. Clarke looked around, there were people of all ages, girls way younger than her had children of their own. They all were happy and talked amongst themselves, even if they were growing impatient from the wait.

It had been an unknown amount of time before clarke stopped to take a water break. She looked out one of the windows and saw dusk fast approaching. Her eyes focused on the line of people, finally able to see an end.

  
"Hey, sit down before you fall down," clarke heard from behind her. It was Harper. They just admitted the last mother and child for the day. "You did amazing today, now go and get some rest."

Clarke smiled and thanked Harper. She was exhausted. Clarke was about to leave when she stopped. She looked back towards Harper, "how did we do today?"

"We saw 135 people and almost all were treatable."

"Wait who wasn't?"

"Two small babies. They were critically ill with blood in their diarrhea, they had to be admitted."

Clarke couldn't believe that she didn't notice two critically ill babies. There were so many faces that they all blurred together. "Will.. will they be alright?"

"We never know..." Harper told her with a sad look to her eyes. Clarke nodded said her goodbyes and headed towards the mess hall, towards a warm meal and hopefully towards Lexa.

 

 

 

  
\---

Clarke jerked awake from her dream. It was still the middle of the night, but she was. Now wide awake despite how she could feel exhaustion in her bones. She turned and rolled trying to find a new position to fall back to sleep in. But her mind wandered. It wandered back to all the faces she saw earlier that day, to the small children who were sick, to their boney figures and sweet sweet faces. She thought about home, about her home and her room. She felt homesick. She never realized until now that her two story home in Charleston, South Carolina would seem like a palace to these people. That the money her parents gave for her allowance and gas could possibly feed a family of four for a week, possibly more. Guilt overtook Clarke's body and she started to sob. She stopped when she heard someone outside her tent.

"Clarke?" She could tell who it was by the familiar voice. She sat up and opened the flap of her tent, coming face to face with Lexa. Without saying another word Lexa crawled in and moved to lay down beside clarke. She wiped the tear from Clarke's face and started to hum a song softly until they were both sleeping again.

 

 

 

 

  
\---

It was the heat of the day and clarke was losing her energy. She was sweating profusely and it was everything she could do to tune of out sounds of people in pain. Every grunt or moan made Clarke's heart lurch. She was assisting nurses today instead of doing intakes. She was helping dress a mans wounds when one of the nurses took over and asked her to go grab another patient. Clarke nodded and headed out to the waiting room.

It was chaos when she walked out, a small child was being rushed it, his body full of deep cuts and dirt, his foot hanging loosely, obviously broken. "Clarke! Help us, he fell out of a truck and was dragged for a while before he fell free. We need to get him into a room asap." Lexa screamed at her, clarke standing there in shock. "CLARKE! Now!" Clarke snapped out of it and ran to open the doors for Lexa and two other men.

"Down the hall last door on the left, I'll grab some nurses!"

"Clarke no, come with me please, one of these men can go find a nurse after. I need your help." Clarke nodded and ran after them and into the room.

"Okay grab sterilized water, some gauze, and some dressings and we'll start cleaning him up and see what other damage he has. The two girls worked as fast as they could to clean up the wounds and dressed as many as they could that weren't too deep. Finally a group of nurses came in and took over, Lexa and clarke being pushed aside.

Lexa looked over to clarke as they made their way out of the room. "You might as well take a break since they are focusing on that right now. How about I go wait in line to grab us food while u wait for me by that tree in the corner of the lot, over by the tents?"

Clarke nodded and the two separated. Clarke walked the grounds until she was leaning up against the tree. She saw the food line was pretty long so she knew it would take Lexa a while to return. Clarke watched the sky as she her a woman calling out for her from the fence. She looked around and when she saw no interpreters she decided to try to talk to the woman anyways. The woman started to speak in Swahili. "I'm- I'm sorry I don't understand.. English?" She asked. The woman continued to talk until everything went quiet from the group behind her and she saw something in a blanket being passed to to the fence. When the blanket reached the woman she began talking again. Clarke recognized the word for please in Swahili as Dr. Salem taught it to them. The woman started to pass the blanket through a small hole in the fence.

Clarke's eyes widened as she grabbed the blanket and saw what was inside. "A baby? What no...." clarke heard a weak cry from the baby and looked back up to were the group started to disperse. "Wait no! Come back!" She watched as the woman was the last to disappear into the tall grass and back where they came from. Clarke looked down at the baby and moved the blanket that was covering half the babies face. Her eyes were open, still, and her skin was a dull grey. Clarke started to sob, the baby was dead.

 

 

  
\---

Nothing that clarke did had prepared her to be face to face with death. Not her readings, the Mercy Ship boot camp, not even the peace corps. Death was final. There was nothing she could do to save this baby. She sat down with the baby by the tree and held her. The baby's round face was beautiful, she had a large forehead, chubby cheeks, and a head full of brown curly hair. Clarke could count each of the babies ribs and her stomach was extended.

She didn't know how long she sat there staring at the still baby in her arms. Lexa walked up to her with their food and stoped abruptly when she noticed clarke was holding something that she couldn't tear her eyes away from. "Whatcha you got there clarke?" Lexa asked as she put their tray of food down and went to stand next to her. When Lexa got close enough, her breath caught in her throat. "Clarke..." she said as she breathed in a sharp breath.

"She's... she's dead Lexa.... they just handed her over to me... there was... there was nothing I could do..." Lexa bent down and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her forehead.

"Shhh it's okay clarke. If they did that, they knew. They knew she wouldn't make it." She sat down next to clarke and held her for a while. "I'm so sorry clarke. I'm so sorry." She didn't know if this would break clarke, if it would make it her stronger or make her weak but Lexa knew that clarke would be faced with death at some point during her mission trip, it was inevitable.

"We should give her a proper funeral. She deserves that. She didn't deserve to die like this." Clarke sobbed. Lexa nodded and rubbed her back some more. She stood up and told clarke she'd be right back.

 

 

 

 

\--

20 minutes later Lexa returned with a small group of people, including a pastor, and a small box. A man started to dig a hole by the fence as Lexa kneeled in front of clarke. "Would you like to help lay her to rest?" She asked the blonde, who nodded. Clarke stood and placed the baby into the box, gently closing her eyes and placing the blanket over her face.

"I don't even know her name, I didn't even ask.." clarke stuttered.

"It's okay clarke," Lexa told her as the pastor closed the box and placed it into the hole. He began reading a few verses in the Bible as they started to cover the box with dirt. Clarke's heart ached.

 

 

\--

 

After they finished the group departed. Lexa held Clarke's hand and led her towards her tent. "You should rest.." clarke stopped and looked into Lexa's eyes.

"No.. no I should get back, I can't let anyone else die... not when we can help them!"

"Clarke you haven't even eaten, you'll pass out, here at least drink some water before you become dehydrated. Please Clarke." Lexa begged. Clarke nodded and sat down on the ground outside her tent, drinking from a water bottle and staring blankly towards the sea of people waiting to be seen, Lexa sitting beside her.

"Thank you Lexa, I know I say it a lot, but you help me so much." She grabbed Lexa's hand and rubbed her thumb over it.

"Anything for you."


End file.
